Improving Communications Interoperability in Alabama
According to the Alabama Department of Homeland Security, new communications technology, funded through $14 million in grant money, will help first responders across the state during disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Agencies in each county should be using ACU-1000, also called bridge technology, within six to nine months to simultaneously cross-band two or more radio networks.
Source: Mike Linn, “Official: High-tech upgrade a 'huge' help,” The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, 21 Sep. 2005: B3
Senate Hearing on Disaster Communications
On September 22, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing titled “Communications in a Disaster” that addressed the protection of critical communications infrastructure and communications for first responders during disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Prepared testimony and archived video from the hearing may be viewed online.
Source: “Communications in a Disaster,” U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing, 22 Sep. 2005
Louisville, Ky. First Responders Get New Radio System
The first phase of MetroSafe, a $71 million emergency communications project, is now fully operational, allowing police, fire and emergency medical services in Louisville, Ky. and surrounding counties to communicate with one another. A new radio communications system will allow dispatchers to connect area police, fire and EMS workers so they can speak to each other despite being on different radio frequencies.
Source: Jessie Halladay, “Radio system links emergency workers; Faster responses are MetroSafe goal,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), 13 Sep. 2005: 1B
DNA Cold Hit on 1977 California Murder
The Los Angeles Police Department has announced a suspect in the 28-year-old murder case of an 18-year-old woman who had moved from Oneida, N.Y. to Los Angeles only three weeks before her death. Using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), Cold Case detectives working out of the Robbery Homicide Division have linked the crime to a 62-year-old convicted sex offender, currently awaiting a third re-trial on the murder of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl in 1979.
Source: Aaron Gifford, “L.A. Cops Crack '77 Case Tied to Oneida,” The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.), 22 Sep. 2005: A1
Using Palm Print, NYPD Solves 1991 Homicide
Using palm print recognition technology, the New York City Police Department has solved a 1991 murder case, leading to murder charges against the identified suspect and the two accomplices he subsequently implicated. The killer is one of 214 homicide suspects identified by investigators since last October, when the Latent Print Unit began dusting off cold cases.
Source: Carrie Melago, “Finger Points to Crime; New technology helps the NYPD nab murderers from cold cases,” Daily News (New York), 18 Sep. 2005: 14
NYPD Now Podcasting
The New York City Police Department has put out an APB on all iPods and MP3 players in the Big Apple and wants their owners to download its podcast that includes traffic alerts and crime prevention messages. Instructions for subscribing to NYPD News Updates may be read online.
Source: "NYPD Busts into Podcasting; Freeze! The New York City Police Department has joined the podcast craze,” Red Herring, 16 Sep. 2005
